‘Song of Hope’ will also feature on a split release with Freewill.
Nearly 20 years after their debut album came out Californian post-hardcore band Spark Of Life are back with a new single that features a famous friend.
‘Song of Hope’ offers a more melodic take on the post-hardcore punk rock found on their 2003 debut album ‘Promises Made, Promises Kept’ and the track features Fred Armisen on drums.
The actor and comedian joins Spark Of Life’s song writing nucleus of singer Steve Jennings and guitarist Nicholas Piscitello on the track, which will also feature on a forthcoming split-release with Freewill.
Formed in the Los Angeles suburbs almost 25 years ago, over the years Spark Of Life all but disappeared – despite there being no acrimonious break up or even public acknowledgment of their dissolution.
Then in the autumn of 2018 Jennings convinced his friends Rise Against to play a secret show at Simi Valley’s Skatelab, the same skatepark he had worked at in high school. The show doubled as his 40th birthday party and, as a one-off, he reunited Spark of Life to open for Rise Against.
The gig reignited the creative spirit between Jennings and Piscitello and the duo restarted their writing partnership. By early 2022 they were ready to record some of their new songs.
Fast forward to 2023 and the band last week signed to Californian hardcore label New Age Records, are currently work on their second full-length album and have live plans that begin 11 February at Programme in Fullerton, CA.
Their collaboration with Armisen came after he and Jennings met and bonded over music when complimenting each other’s t-shirts
Armisen said: “The band are friends of mine. They asked me to play drums on a song and that was an easy ‘yes’. What a great song. Recording and then doing the video was a lot of fun. Happy to be a fill-in drummer and full-time friend!”
It’s far from being Armisen’s first punk rock collaboration. He teamed up with Sleater-Kinney for a cover of Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical’, after the actress and singer passed away last year. He also joined Bob Mould at the 2021 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco to play Hüsker Dü’s classic ‘I Apologize’.
Main Photo Credit: Jonathan Wiener
Follow Spark Of Life on Their Socials
Need more Punk In Your Life?
From Post-Punk to Present Tense, Vision Meets Violets in Leeds’ Gothic Temple
Leeds’ music scene breaths grit. Warehouse raves, postpunk rebellions and goth nights have been its lifeblood for decades. The Warehouse hosted Vision Video and The
Punk, Putin and Pussy Riot – Maria Alyokhina speaks out in The Hague
On 26th June 2025, Maria Alyokhina brought her Riot Days show to het Paard venue in The Hague, The Netherlands. Before the concert, Pussy Riot
Album review: Fantazmaz unleash their self-titled debut!
If you’ve seen Fantazmaz live, you’ll know that the mostly-Brazilian London-based quartet are less a band than a force of nature. This album was recorded
Live review: Los Fastidios – Medley, Malmö, Sweden 26th June 2025
Italian street punks Los Fastidios might very well be the hardest touring band on the scene, clocking in at an astonishing +100 gigs a year.
Punk women reunite – make sure you catch this unmissable upcoming gig in London!
Three bands, fronted by three women Punk vocalists, will reunite on Sunday 6th July, to celebrate almost 50 years of friendship! Zillah Minx (Rubella Ballet),
Live review: Mexican, Israeli and Utrecht punk in Dutch Hilversum
Venue Hillyweird in Hilversum, the Netherlands, announced a concert on 19th June 2025 by Pissebed from Utrecht, Holocausts, from Israel, and Los Intrusos from Mexico.
An occasional writer on punk rock.
Click on Dom’s photo for more of his articles
Did you know that we are 100% DIY? We run our own game. No one dictates to us, and no one drives what we can or cannot put on our pages – and this is how we plan to continue!
